An RMIT‑led trial on the Bass Coast is showing how floating wetlands could transform the health and productivity of Australia's 1.8 million farm dams.
The project saw the RMIT University partner with Melbourne Water and Bass Coast Landcare Network to trial the floating wetlands on a series of dams across the region. Early results of the trial have shown improvements in turbidity, biodiversity and emissions reduction.
The floating wetlands act as natural filtration systems, with wetland plants foots forming underwater root matrices that attract a microbial community that helps transfer nutrients, trapping particles and cooling the water, creating a chain reaction that improves both the health and the look of the farm dam.
The project was led by Dr. Martino Malerba, a Senior Lecturer in the School of Science at RMIT University. He said that the trial was trying to improve multiple elements of farm dams, and the farm more broadly.
"We're aiming to enhance farm dams to act as biodiversity hotspots, as well supporting farmers and the farming industry, alongside the environmental benefits," he said.
Despite Australia's farm dams storing 20 times more water than Sydney Harbour, many remain degraded, fenced off and under‑utilised.
Camilla Graves, a local landowner on the Bass Coast who is trialling the system, said installing wetlands is an easy way of improving water quality and increasing biodiversity around the dam precinct.
One of the problems with farm dams is the quality of the water," she said.
"We're really excited to be trying out these floating wetlands to see if they can improve that water quality. One of the key benefits is that because the plants float independe
Joel Geoghegan, Sustainable Agriculture Team Lead at Bass Coast Landcare Network said that farm dams remain an area that the farmers can realise more benefits for themselves and wider Bass Coast community.
"On the Bass Coast, agriculture dominates the landscape," he said.
"Most properties and industries in the area rely on dams for stock water, but most of those dams haven't been protected properly, and we aren't yet realising the full benefits of what they can offer."
"The biggest benefit we're hoping to find is the reduction in on-farm dam emissions that these floating wetlands can help provide, and obviously there are other biodiversity benefits too.
Karen Thomas, Sustainable Agriculture Facilitator at Melbourne Water, said the combination of expertise in science, water and the local area meant the project team was able to deliver something that had multiple benefits across a range of areas in the farming industry.
"When we compliment the latest research with what we know is best practice, not only do we get product and productivity benefits to the farm and farmer, we also take an important step in addressing the environmental challenges of agriculture in Australia," she said.
With successful trials completed, partners are now looking to expand the program. Malerba said government support was now essential to scale the innovation.
"The idea is to find ways to scale it up," he said. "We look forward to working with government to realise the policy and financial settings, so that farmers can adopt these new methods of managing their farm dams, and deliver both productivity and environmental benefits that Australians all share in."
